BANGKOK, THAILAND - JULY 3: Supporters of Yingluck Shinawatra celebrate as election results come out at the Pue Thai party headquarters July 3, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. Early exit polls put Yingluck, the sister of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra ahead as Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva concedes the election. The apparent election result paves the way for Yingluck Shinawatra to become Thailand's first female prime minister. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX *** less

BANGKOK, THAILAND - JULY 3: Supporters of Yingluck Shinawatra celebrate as election results come out at the Pue Thai party headquarters July 3, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. Early exit polls put Yingluck, the ... more

Photo: Paula Bronstein, Getty Images

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BANGKOK, THAILAND - JULY 3: Yingluck Shinawatra comes out to celebrate with her supporters at the Pue Thai party headquarters July 3, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. Early exit polls put Yingluck, the sister of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra ahead as Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva concedes the election. The apparent election result paves the way for Yingluck Shinawatra to become Thailand's first female prime minister. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX *** less

BANGKOK, THAILAND - JULY 3: Yingluck Shinawatra comes out to celebrate with her supporters at the Pue Thai party headquarters July 3, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. Early exit polls put Yingluck, the sister of ... more

Photo: Paula Bronstein, Getty Images

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Party of Thailand's ex-prime minister wins vote

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Bangkok --

The sister of Thailand's fugitive former prime minister led his loyalists to a landslide election victory Sunday, a stunning rout of the military-backed government that last year crushed protests by his supporters with a bloody crackdown that left the capital in flames.

The results pave the way for Thaksin Shinawatra's youngest sister, widely considered his proxy, to become the nation's first female prime minister - if the coup-prone Thai army accepts the results.

The Southeast Asian kingdom has been racked by upheaval since 2006, when Thaksin was toppled in a military coup amid accusations of corruption and a rising popularity that some saw as a threat to the nation's much-revered monarchy.

The coup touched off a schism between the country's haves and long-silent have-nots - pitting the marginalized rural poor who hailed Thaksin's populism against an elite establishment bent on defending the status quo that sees him as a corrupt autocrat. Last year's violent demonstrations by "Red Shirt" protesters - most of them Thaksin backers - and the subsequent crackdown marked the boiling over of those divisions.

On Sunday, though, they played out at the ballot box in a vote that will decide the shape of Thailand's fragile democracy.

The Pheu Thai Party was led to an overwhelming victory by 44-year-old Yingluck Shinawatra, a U.S.-educated businesswoman hand-picked by her billionaire brother. He has called her his "clone." The party's slogan is: "Thaksin Thinks, Pheu Thai Acts."

From exile 3,000 miles away in the desert emirate of Dubai, Thaksin, 61, hailed the outcome, saying, "People are tired of a standstill. They want to see change in a peaceful manner."

In a late-night victory speech in Bangkok, Yingluck said, "There's still a lot of work to be done in the future, in terms of the well-being of the people and for the country's unity and reconciliation."

With 98 percent of the vote counted, preliminary results from the Election Commission showed the Pheu Thai Party far ahead with 264 of 500 parliament seats, well over the majority needed to form a government. The Democrat Party of army-backed incumbent Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had 160 seats.

Last week, army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha reiterated his vow to stay neutral in the vote, dismissing rumors the military would stage another coup. Thailand's democratic process has been repeatedly thwarted over the years, with 18 successful or attempted military coups since the 1930s.

Last year, tens of thousand so f pro-Thaksin Red Shirt protesters poured into Bangkok from the countryside, paralyzing the city's wealthiest district for two months. By the time they were crushed by an army crackdown, the capital's glittering skyline was in flames. Some 90 people were killed and about 1,800 wounded, mostly protesters.